I am a month away from my first consult for a breast lift (no implants) and have found very little information on my question anywhere online, so I'm hoping for real stories from someone! I am an 36 year old athlete who works out very intensely six days a week. I do significant weight training three days a week, along with plyometrics and pretty vigorous interval HIIT cardio and kickboxing the other three days. My training is a huge part of my life, and it has wonderful effects on my energy, my emotions, and my daily clarity. I am worried about the down time of recovery from a breast lift. Everything I've read and watched online has stated that it's a minimum of four weeks before allowed to do anything besides walking, and that it takes a long time to be able to lift anything more than 5 lbs. without complicating recovery. This makes me think that it will be a minimum of two months before I could resume the kind of workout regimen I am used to. And with having to wear a surgical bra for a few months, I'm not sure how I could support the breasts during that kind of intensity, either. I worry about losing muscle tone, endurance, and being depressed from the lack of activity. Do any of you have experiences as athletes, or an ability to shed any light on how long it took for you to be able to seriously work out? Also, I work in academia and am trying to maximize my schedule to accommodate recovery. I am debating if two weeks during winter break enough to recover to get back to a very active, animated job, or if I am better off waiting until summer break of 2012 to allow longer recovery time. I hate the idea of wasting my summer vacation not being able to swim and work out outside! Any opinions or comments would be wonderfully appreciated! Thanks in advance! J.